Get started with Puppet, and learn how this popular configuration management framework helps you automate your servers. This concise introduction shows you how to use Puppet’s tools and templates to organize and execute configuration plans on Linux, Unix, and Windows servers. Through code samples and real-world examples, you’ll learn how to manage pools of servers and virtual instances, and how to administer access control. If you’re new to Puppet, but familiar with systems administration and Ruby language basics, this book is the ideal way to start using this open source framework.

Learn Puppet fundamentals, including its manifest syntax and built-in functions

Store configurations in a central location with PuppetMaster, and define which configurations apply to which nodes

Build a framework to create user accounts in place of LDAP or Kerberos KDC

Apply techniques to execute and manage server configurations with MCollective

Use Puppet as an auditing tool to ensure that configurations are correct

This is little better than than an extended PowerPoint presentation on a couple elements of puppet. For someone looking for a book on how to setup management of several systems using puppet, go some where else. It doesn't provide an overview of the puppet system. It doesn't provide a management framework example into which Puppet is deployed. It makes passing reference to needs of system and service life cycle management but fails to provide a very robust example. I think I can get more out of the online documentation.

The biggest problem is that it has a misleading title. The book is more about some basic and poorly thought examples of puppet than managing infrastructure.

I had never gotten a bad book from O'Reilly, until now. This pamplet appears to be a poor cut and paste job from the online files provided by the developers. I had hoped it would cover the configuration of puppet, but it starts out with "load the rpm" and then it's running. It gives little information as to how to configure the service. It assumes that all will work out of the box.

Bottom LineNo, I would not recommend this to a friend

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Though you could probably pick up a thing or two from the actual content of this book, there really needs to be more content than this. People will feel ripped off. There's a lot you can do with Puppet. The concept of the product is fantastic, you can write plenty about it along with a lot more real world examples.

O'Reilly should never have allowed this book to be put up for sale.It's unbelievable shallow. Even the puppetlabs pdf manual contains much more info and insight then this 46 page nothing. Total waste of money.

I would not even call this a book. It was a 30 page pamphlet. It did not provide me any insight into puppet or help me to use or configure puppet. It was a complete waist of time and money. I am surprised O'Reilly would publish this and charge more than $.99 for it.